Decided to trade away Cody Parkey because I can’t mind bleach the image of his irl post-crossbar double tap. Got a 2019 5th from the Bengals.

Was going to replace him with the best available free agent, Blair Walsh (75 OVR), but then spotted Jonathan Brown on my practice squad (74 OVR). Not quite sure why Brown is on my practice squad as from what I can tell he’s a Bengal irl, but maybe we automatically signed him as I’ve got the ‘fill roster’ setting set to on.

Quite liked Brown’s irl backstory as a former college football (as in soccer football) player who became an NFL kicker despite never taking a kick in college. And his core kicking stats (95 KPW 80 KAC) are actually a touch better than Walsh’s, so I’ve signed him up.

Played a couple of games in ‘madden moments’ mode to get through them quicker. Didn’t feel nearly as satisfying as playing through the full titanic Packers battle, but it’s convenient. Will probably opt for it against lesser opponents to get through the season more quickly.

I’ve been tempted to switch to All-pro difficulty because Pro has lost all its luster for me, but I’m afraid the jump might be too gargantuan. IDK, I might start a fresh save with KC and give it a go as my Browns team is all-too conquering at the moment as Baker is just mowing through the rest of league with ease.

A note to keep in mind regarding trades and the draft: 5-7th round picks are unlikely to be any good. So if you’re stocking up on them for the draft, don’t bother. They do come in handy for making trades happen though, particularly 5th rounders. Another neat trick is that during the draft you could probably trade a 7th rounder (when it’s your time to pick with it) for a pick as high as a low 5th rounder for the year after. The AI just values drafting a 7th rounder now a lot more over a 5th next year (it’s not often that they give it up, but you can definitely get a 6th).

Prior to getting that 5th my list of picks consisted of five first rounders, two for 2019 and three for 2020. Four belonging to other teams (BUF ARI BUF MIN). Everything else got traded away.

Don’t particularly care about the 5th, but it’s better than just cutting Parkey and receiving nothing. I also edited away his signing bonus to dodge a cap penalty, because I’m a dirty cheat and don’t want to hamper myself due to hate-dropping a kicker.

Started another save because I’m weak and have no stickability. But mainly because the roster updates pushed the Colts up to being an 80+ team from the off, with Luck back to 90 and Hilton at 91. Added benefit of not having to trade for Quenton Nelson.

Did a bit of work on the trade market, have added the Giants 2019 1st, the Bills 2020 1st and 2nd, and to beef up the defence Joe ‘football weekly listener’ Schobert and Kenny Clark. Had to give up our 19 1st rounder for Schobert but was worth it.

Currently sit 6-1, with the only game I lost being away to New England when I lost Luck for the game with a bruised sternum and had to roll with Jacoby Brisset (threw 4 picks, was sort of not concentrating… still had a game-winning drive with the result in the balance though and could have won, but I threw a pick and rage-simmed to the end).

Just lost Mack for 5 weeks with a shoulder tear, so will have to get through a handful of games with a sub-optimal rushing attack.

All-Pro is great when you get used to it. Putting up elite numbers (2482 YDS, 25 TD, 4 INT, 211-267, 79%, 130.3 QBR) with Luck, though that’s easier than with a lesser arm like Trubisky. But still. Just the 4 picks through seven games is good going by my standards. Have the 1st ranked offense for yards and points, and the 32nd-ranked defence in terms of yards allowed, though we’re only 29th in terms of points allowed. Need a better secondary, basically.

Decided to start a new save on All-Pro, the Browns save was getting a bit stale as my team was just so OP and Pro was getting ridiculously easy (To put things in perspective, Baker threw 57 TDs and Njoku caught 25 (?) TDs and I still have 5 games to play). I’ve been wanting to give the Rams a punt for a while, but didn’t want to redo the whole coach XP thing so just started off with Sean McVay as the coach.

Obviously my first move was to trade for Quenton Nelson (Flowers Jr and a 5th and a 6th I think) and trade away my LG for picks (I got a future second), then traded my MLB for a few more picks. Also, for whatever reason Michael Bennett was sitting in FA waiting to be picked up, so I signed him and immediately traded him to the Packers for a 1st, a 2nd and a 3rd.

My first game was a bit of an easy pickem as I got the Raiders away, who I proceeded to shutout for the 1st half barring a FG that I shouldn’t have let them have in the first place. Carr went 0/5, but playing offense was a lot more difficult: not enough time to do things, and it also doesn’t help that I’m playing the McVay playbook an the Rams offense, which does overlap with Hue Jacksons’ and the Browns playbook (lolwat) but even some simple plays like TE attack has slightly different routes. PA FA Quick might be my new favorite play btw. I struggled with the rushing early on but eventually I managed to get it going, and despite not getting through the secondary I managed 26 carries on 140 yards with Gurley, including a 60 yard rushing TD that the defense just collapsed while try to stop Gurley (they just went flaccid, it felt more like a glitch without anything breaking up). I couldn’t throw the ball though; 214 yards on 55% completion and 2 TDs but one of the TDs came on the back of my defense getting a pick and driving it all the way to the 3 yard line. Also Arden Key sacked Goff to the depths of hell (6 sacks for Oakland) and I realized most of my tackles came from my defensive backs, not my front 4, which is bad when you have Aaron Donald and manage only 3 tackles (and 1.5 sacks but that’s irrelevant).

I never sign up FAs and then immediately trade them for assets, bit gamey as irl a team would just sign the free agent themselves. The fact you already get first dibs on the FA market with it essentially frozen for the AI teams until you’ve done what you want is already an unrealistic advantage.

I mean, sure, buuuut, I also don’t sign Quenton Nelson on every save so I guess fair’s fair.

Anyway the team was stacked as is so this is more for more to try out All-Pro and how I can play on that over playing GM.

I’d love to have a receiving back on this team, with the Browns I was able to pick up Christian McCaffery from FA, and he’s just a wide receiver who starts from deep. A good receiving back means anywhere you throw you’ve got a decent chance of the ball getting picked up. Either that or a power back just to blow past secondary’s. I’m not sure what an elusive back is supposed to be, just a leaner smaller HB who can slide through the gaps the OL creates?

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